Field
Example embodiments in general relate to apparatus, methods, and computer-readable media for displaying a simulated computer monitor or virtual desktop in an augmented reality environment comprising the use of a see through head-mountable device.
Prior Art
Any discussion of the related art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such related art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
When working with computers in an office or home setting the trend over recent decades has been to increase miniaturization and portability. The only parts of computer equipment which have not been subject to this process were those where ergonomical considerations have prevented further miniaturization. Screens and keyboards are a prime example of equipment where miniaturization is generally considered counterproductive in terms of usability. Whilst a bigger screen yields a better user experience on the whole, it also comes at a price in terms of placing significant space demands on an office desk and in reduced portability due to its weight and dimensions. Furthermore, scaling up the size of a screen comes along with a corresponding increase in cost. There have been attempts to virtualize a computer screen in the prior art, but the present state of the art does not offer a monitor virtualization system capable of satisfying enterprise requirements in an office environment.
With the advent of augmented reality and virtual reality technology a considerable number of contributions to improved display devices have been made in recent years. In particular there have been a considerable number of approaches attempting to superimpose a computer display onto a real-world image. Presently there are two separate avenues which have been demonstrated on the consumer market. On the one hand there exists the Virtual Desktop (developed and published by Guy Gordin), which is an application developed for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive that lets the user interface their computer in virtual reality. On the other hand, there are a host of see through augmented reality devices, such as Google Glass, which feature virtual display overlaid onto the real-world. Generally any overlaid screens are subject to ghosting, meaning that these displays are see-through in such a way that the user can still see the real world behind a display. The augmented reality displays also render screen overlays generally in a way that does not take into account changes in the attitude of the user's head or the user's location. In most instances the relative position and focal distance of such displays are pre-set and cannot be changed by the user. Very often the disparity between focus depth and vergence which typically besets such devices makes the user experience unsatisfactory, especially if the screen displays are viewed for prolonged times.    U.S. Pat. No. 6,084,556 issued on Jul. 4, 2000 to Arthur Zwern discloses a novel method to simulate a virtual desktop in a virtual reality environment. The described embodiments relate particularly to visually impaired computer users controlling their desktop computer through a magnified image of the screen displayed in a virtual reality environment.    U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,719 B2 issued on Oct. 25, 2011 to Charlotte Skourup et al. for configuring, monitoring and/or operating a graphical user interface in two or three dimensions. In particular it is concerned with a graphical user interface used for controlling, monitoring and/or operating equipment in a control system of an industrial process or an installation for oil and gas or for an installation for electrical power generating, transmission and/or distribution.